Emirates Drops In-Flight Magazine To Save Fuel

When Andrew reported on airlines shaving fuel costs any way they can, commenter J Walsh shared some astounding calculations with us regarding how much weight is represented by in-flight magazines (around 498,750 punds for one airline per day!). Kristin already noted that Jet Blue counts its lack of in-flight magazine as part of its green credentials, but it seems others are following suit. According to The Guardian, Emirates is ditching its magazine to save fuel, and others are at least slimming the page count:" According to Emirates' president Tim Clark, the decision to ban all onboard paper will lighten the aircraft by a tonne. "It's 2kg per seat and 500 seats, a worthwhile saving," he says. "We are doing it because of fuel prices and the environment. The printed matter will be replaced by content shown on the aircraft's seat-back TVs."

...Both Northwest Airlines and Japan Airlines revealed plans last month to reduce weight by cutting pagination. That Japan Airlines is reducing its magazine size will surprise many in-flight aficionados - by the early 1990s the carrier had one of the largest magazines in the world."

Of course cutting back on magazines has added benefits, from saving paper and ink, to eliminating the energy used in manufacture — as someone who has always hated in-flight magazines, I can only welcome it as a good thing. Of course flying remains an incredibly energy-intensive activity, but every little helps in cutting back our levels of consumption.

When Andrew reported on airlines shaving fuel costs any way they can, commenter J Walsh shared some astounding calculations with us regarding how much weight is represented by in-flight magazines (around 498,750 punds for one airline per day!). Kristin